<p>Overnight stays are an awesome way to get a feel for what the campus is really like - particularly if you do a two-night stay, like a Thursday/Friday night thing. You get a nice contrast between school night and weekend night, so you get a taste of both worlds (and they're often pretty disparate.) I host prospective students, and it is really good for them to be able to ask questions about things they care about (dating, alcohol, etc.) that they might not want to ask about with parental units around.</p>
<p>Digmedia posted this:
Check cell phone service to see which carrier/plan would be best.
Check nearby hotels to see which would be best for move-in/parents day, etc
Check library for services, student demeanor, etc.
Check bathrooms to see what type of grafitti you find
Check campus and town for student w/o car
Check bulletin boards to see what kind of events are being publicized
Attend an on-campus event
Check out typical student dress
Check bookstore for supplemental class material
Check availability of wireless internet
Take a full day and don't rush the visit
Check out student lounges and study areas
Have your student talk to other students
Check department bulletin boards (jobs, internships, symposia, etc)
Wander about the academic buildings: doors open? labs in use? professors in their offices?
Check out services offered by the student union
Read the student publications
Check out the surrounding neighborhoods
Listen to the campus radio station
Let your student take the lead in exploring and asking questions
Explore separately (tours, classes, etc)
Ask how professors are addressed (Dr, Prof, first-name)
Look for places on campus where you can feel comfortable
Remember that what makes a good fit for your student may not be the same thing as you think makes a good fit.</p>
<p>I would add the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>What are the hours that professors keep for students to meet with them if necessary, in the dapartments of interest</li>
<li>Always eat at the cafeteria and other eateries to check out the food.</li>
<li>What is the parking situation like? Are freshmen allowed cars?</li>
<li>What is the fraternity/sorority situation like?</li>
<li>What clubs are available?</li>
<li>What types of support such as tutoring, writing centers etc is available?</li>
<li>What is the placement office like, and what is their track record for placement of graduates?</li>
<li>Check bathrooms,dorms and lounges for how well they are serviced an maintained? Also, single ply toilet paper shows a high degree of cheapness.</li>
<li>ALWAYS meet with several students and ask about the school, the department, the teachers and the facilities. Ask them how many speak English well. I have found kids to be brutally honest.</li>
<li>Check out the library and make sure there are some nice quiet areas.</li>
<li>If your kid is interested in music or art, check out the studios available? There should always be studios available for homework</li>
<li>Inquire whether the faculty is more pressured to do research or whether quality teaching is encouraged. Those of you considering Yale will find the answer to this question very disturbing. There are other schools like Yale where undergraduate education is not that emphasized.</li>
<li>Inquire about the crime statistics on campus and near the campus. What types of crimes have been comitted within the last three years?</li>
<li>I like the idea of browsing the bookstores. I can usually tell, especially in my area of specialty, whether the books are designed for strong academics or are "watered down" and less technical.</li>
<li>Inquire as to the grading policy. Ask kids what percentage get A's, B's etc. Tight grading might adversely affect your kid's ability to get into top graduate and professional schools.</li>
<li>I certainly agree that reading the student publications is important. I would, in addtion, check out any student forums too.</li>
</ol>
<p>I'm not sure if this has been addressed yet..but, a good question to ask is it's a suitcase school or not. how many kids stay on campus during the weekend vs. how many go home? If you're traveling long distance to a school that a lot live close to, w/e's can be very lonely!</p>
<p>Find out if they have a computer service on campus and what brands of computers are most compatible with that service or with repair service in the community or with the common student use (some schools don't have laptops open in classrooms, while others seem to have them as a norm).</p>
<p>Questions like, do you have to be in a certain major to sing in the choir or act in a play. </p>
<p>Most police web sites can tell you a lot about campus safety.</p>
<p>Let your child process the information load and see if they feel comfortable with the kids they see, the classes they visit, the chairs in the lounge....just let them process as much as possible and let them decide.</p>
<p>Just visited Clemson, U of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn. (other direction to be visited over spring break in March)</p>
<p>son is a junior.</p>
<p>Advice to other junior parents who have had trouble getting their kid interested in college search:</p>
<p>BEFORE arriving to the campus
1. find out which college entrance is the most attractive.
2. Find out where the cute college hang-outs are and drive thru the area first (if there is time, stop for coffee, burger, pizza (whatever) there before heading to campus)
3. Try to go on a "school day" so that your child will see the students "in action". (my kid loved seeing the kids sitting on the lawn with their laptops and lunches)
4. Find out ahead of time where the best "on site" eating/rec places are and be sure to visit them early (even if its before a "tour")
5. Walk thru some of the dining halls (we had no problem just telling the ladies at the door that scan cards that we were just looking around). My son became especially enamored with one school that featured a huge dining hall that has a LARGE variety of stations of "exhibition cooking" (the food is cooked in front of you by the chefs).
6. Find out which is the best dorm and try to go in for a visit.</p>
<p>Before we ever went to a college, my son was DRAGGING his feet at the idea of visiting campuses (campi ??) However, by using this trick, my son "perked up" and now loves the idea of visiting campuses.</p>
<p>...some of these have already been mentioned, one way or another...</p>
<p>If your student is going far away to college, think about what he/she will do for Thanksgiving break, if coming home is not an option?</p>
<p>Also, how easy/safe is it traveling between campus and airport/bus/train station when mommie and daddy aren't able to come get a student?</p>
<p>Where is the nearest ATM? It's not always on campus.</p>
<p>Even though many colleges now have 24-hour access to technology, I still like to know where is the closest 24-hour Kinko's?</p>
<p>Now that the entire country has experienced Katrina, one way or another, does your student have a personal disaster recovery plan, i.e. contact info for relatives or family friends near school? Make sure that your child knows how to reach relatives around the country, should calling or coming home not be an immediate option.</p>
<p>Ask RA's about policies and procedures in place for dealing with a roommate from hell!</p>
<p>Read the college newpapers in advance including online archives, if available, to get a feel for what's been happening in the campus community.</p>
<p>What are the storage options for summer breaks?</p>
<p>We always pray that a child never needs this, but if your child gets arrested, does he/she have a family phone number memorized...a phone with no voicemail machine attached? A pay phone in jail only allows for the making of collect calls, so a real live human being needs to answer the phone to accept the charges for a collect call!</p>
<p>Another couple of suggestions for the visit:
1) If safety is a concern (and it probably is for all parents), stop by and visit the local fire department / ambulance corps. They will probably be able to tell you a lot about what kinds of calls they get from the campus.
2) Ask current students not only what they like about the school, but what bugs them or drives them crazy. There will undoubtably be something. But the important thing will be to see if a) the answers are consistent and b) if it is an issue that is important/relevant for you.</p>
<p>I think visiting the healthcare center is important, and some of you may also want to visit the counseling center or the relevant part of the healthcare center. I did this only after s was admitted, but I made an appointment to talk to head of CS in morning (my son was in dorm overnight) the man in question was a terrific source of information and even talked about which dorms were quieter, etc. I realize not everyone will want to do something like this, but we found it very helpful.</p>
<p>more tips:</p>
<p>Arrive the evening before and see what the college hangouts are like at night. After spending the night, go to an early tour. Sometimes you can be "done" with the whole visit by 1- 2 pm. That can give you time to move on to your next destination and visit the next college's hangouts in the evening (If the following destination is within 4 -5 hours)</p>
<p>If your child is used to warm weather and you suspect that he may not like cold weather once he "really experiences" it, plan a visit when the weather is at or near its coldest. We did that recently and by the end of the visit, s had crossed school off his list. Better now than midway thru his freshman year!!! Who wants to go thru all of this only to have your kid want to transfer and send you all on another wild goose chase!</p>
<p>What do D, H, and S stand for?</p>
<p>Daughter, Husband, Son</p>
<p>Daughter, husband, son</p>
<p>And DD, DH, DS, are <em>dear</em> daughter, husband, son.</p>